VAN NUYS : Brothers Accused in Killing of Parents Called Victims
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Two brothers charged with murdering their parents in Beverly Hills were victims of “family violence and extreme forms of child abuse,” an attorney said in a written document Wednesday.
Details about the defense of Erik Menendez, 22, and his brother Lyle, 25, came during battles over whether their potentially sensational trial should be televised. Entertainment executive Jose Menendez and his wife, Kitty, were killed with a shotgun while watching TV in their mansion on Aug. 20, 1989.
Attorney Leslie Abramson argued in a legal brief that witnesses already reluctant to testify about the sensitive subject of child abuse might refuse to take the stand if they knew their testimony was being televised.
Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg decided for other reasons to ban TV cameras. Weisberg said filming would be a distraction because two juries will be in the courtroom.
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